Can’t afford the additional charges at nursery for my 3 year old

[Lilacbluewaters]

Hi,
my son recently started nursery attached to a school, he turns 4 in March. He receives the 15 funded hours. However the nursery have sent an invoice with additional charges for things like nappies. Wipes, extra activities, snacks and their app. I wasn’t aware of this and I can’t afford the extra £80 per month for this.
will I have to withdraw his place?

@LadySnoresMuchly nursery for 2 year olds that is part of a school is slightly different as it's usually aimed at children who need an earlier start due to SEN reasons so children in nappies may not be unusual and the staff levels will be arranged for that.
A regular Nursery Class for 3-4 year olds is the first part of Foundation Stage.
If that is what the OPs child is in then it's school not daycare.

We’re not allowed to supply food. Our top up cost is £3.40 an hour, plus a daily subsidy. It’s to cover all “additional costs”, and it’s not optional. It is tough, I was not prepared for it to go up again at three.

My son goes to a state school nursery which takes babies from 4 months.

Not where I live (England) it isn't.

@Threeandahalf that's not a "school" though for the babies. It's daycare.
@LadySnoresMuchly in England the Early Years Foundation Stage is two years.
3-4 year old and 4-5 year olds.
The 4-5 year olds are the school year called Reception although some areas of England call it Foundation. If a school has a class for the 3-4 year olds it's usually called "Nursery Class".
The class is usually 3 hours a day, Monday to Friday (15 hours, term time only). It's part of school.
That's what I have been asking the OP to say what type of nursery her child is in.

If it's a maintained school nursery, there must be a qualified teacher in charge. Starting salary is about £33k outside London. A full time level 2 TA is about £23k I think. Add to this a level 3 qualified TA to cover when the teacher is at lunch, plus the teacher's 10% non contact time (or 20% if they are a new teacher) and you can quickly see how salaries eat up all of the government funding.

The funding is not designed to cover extras such as nappies, food, resources etc.

However, if parents only take 15 hours, any contribution must be voluntary and there must be an entirely free offer, such as enabling parents to provide their own nappies, snacks, lunch etc.

The EYFS framework for the development, learning and care of children firm birth to five?

I was an EYFS teacher for fifteen years. In my last year of teaching nursery (in a school) the two and three year olds were together. And any two year old could get a place, they didn't have to have SEN.

How much would you spend on snacks or trips out if your DC doesn’t attend the nursery?

@LadySnoresMuchly ok apologies if some of what I said was wrong.
But as far as I knew the academic year that covers 3-4 years old is Foundation Stage 1 and 4-5 years old is Foundation Stage 2. Most schools call that Reception year but I have seen some schools call it Foundation or "F2" so "F1" will be the nursery class year.
If a child is in "F1" within a school then surely they are at school - not daycare. An environment which at 3 should not include needing nappies.

@LadySnoresMuchly according to Gov.uk.org not all 2 year olds are entitled to free nursery places (although I know things are changing now).
So apologies that I said it was aimed at children with SEN but it is for children with other special circumstances (ie low income family).

@Lilacbluewaters you haven't answered about what type of nursery this is.
Is it a school class that your child attends for 3 hours a day, Monday to Friday, term time only?
Because if so they shouldn't be asking for any money except for the odd voluntary donation to fund something like a class Christmas party.
Or if your child stays for lunch you have to pay for that if he has the school dinner.

But that page is about benefits. If you want a place at a school nursery for a two year old then you can apply. If there is a space you will get a space for your two year old.

@LadySnoresMuchly yes but it won't be free for all 2 year olds unless you qualify - which is either for SEN reasons or the circumstances I shared above.
Not all 2 year olds can get a free nursery place.

I'm not sure what your point is here.

I was responding to you saying that children in a school nursery should not be in nappies.

My point was that there are now two year olds in school nurseries and these two year olds are more likely to be in nappies than the three year olds.

You then told me that two year olds in school nurseries are SEN which is not the case.

I haven't heard EYFS foundation stage called reception for over a decade.

@LadySnoresMuchly huh ? Almost all primary schools call the 4 - 5 year old class Reception.
You can buy workbooks like the ones published by CGP etc that the Year group is called Reception.
My point was all to do with what type of "nursery" the OPs child is in (which she hasn't answered).
If it's a Nursery Class as part of a primary school then it's part of the school and she shouldn't be charged anything for it.
I did say I was wrong about SEN. It's special circumstances (such as SEN or low income) as it clearly says in the government website.

Many school nurseries are used as childcare, a number of parents pay for additional hours. I was speaking to someone involved with local school, they have 5 children in YR in nappies, so nappies in school nursery very common. Many school nurseries take 2yo. Local ones are looking at taking on 9 month olds, so very much childcare.

@LadySnoresMuchly also from the government website...

@crumblingschools but the OP says her son is just doing the 15 hours.
So she shouldn't be paying anything.

Reception isn't nursery @Needmorelego

@crumblingschools I know it isn't.
The OPs child should be in a "Nursery Class" going by his age. Next year he will be in Reception.
I've lost my somewhere along this thread but I think it was to do with the difference between daycare nursery and school nursery.

@Needmorelego I am slightly confused by your assertion that school nurseries are not used as childcare, and there won't be nappies etc

Surely you were informed of this before you took your place? My understanding is technically they have to offer the funded hours only (which may mean bringing in your own snack, nappies, wipes etc for them). Many charge extra as they can afford to stay open otherwise but I believe you can request legally just the funded hours only and they have to give you that option.

@crumblingschools they shouldn't be used as childcare though. It's 15 hours (3 hours a day term time only) of pre-school education within a school setting.
It's education....not childcare.
Parents can choose to use their 15 hours within a childcare style nursery though.
Although I know there has been changes recently and more childcare style nurseries are on the same sites as a school.

@crumblingschools my daughter's nursery class was very much part of the school.
They wore uniform (polos and sweatshirts), had their own little bookbags and sometimes joined the Reception class for special activities/playtime and on really special occasions joined in with the whole school assembly.
Basic LA primary school.
So definitely not a "childcare" setting.

@Needmorelego why shouldn't they use it as childcare? Many families round here send their children for longer hours and pay the extra over the funded amount. Childcare nurseries have to follow the same curriculum as school nurseries, so both are educational. Why do 2 year olds go to school nurseries? Why are the local schools round here changing the admissions criteria to take on 9 month olds?